| River Vuoksi (Vuoksa) | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Lake Saimaa |
| Mouth | Lake Ladoga |
| Basin countries | Finland, Russia |
| Length | 162 km (101 mi) |
| Source elevation | 74 m (243 ft) |
| Avg. discharge | 540 m³/s (19,073 ft³/s) |
| Basin area | Greater than 52,400 km² (20,232 mi²) |
The Vuoksi River (Russian: Вуокса; Finnish: Vuoksi; Swedish: Vuoksen) runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, an older main northern branch at Priozersk (Käkisalmi), a smaller branch few km. to the north of it and since 1857 a new southern branch entering fifty kilometers further southeast as Burnaya River (Finnish: Taipaleenjoki), which has become the main stream in terms of water discharge. The old northern distributaries drain only the lower reaches of the Vuoksi basin after 1857 and are not fed by waters of the Lake Saimaa. Northern and southern branches actually belong to two separate river systems, which at times get isolated from each other in dry seasons.
The descent between Lake Saimaa and Lake Ladoga is 69 meters. The entire run of the river is 162 kilometers via the Priozersk branch or 150 kilometers via the Taipale branch. For most of its length, the river broadens out to a series of lakes bound together by shorter riverlike connections. One of these lakes, Uusijärvi close to Priozersk, was renamed by the Soviets to Ozero Vuoksa ("Lake Vuoksa").
The Vuoksi connects Lake Ladoga with central Finland, and was once an important route for trade and communication. A western branch, which disappeared due to ongoing land uplift, was an alternative route for the Karelians to reach the Gulf of Finland when the River Neva was blocked by enemies. Now the Saimaa Canal bypasses the Vuoksi and enters the Gulf of Finland in the Bay of Vyborg near the medieval city of Vyborg.
During both the Winter and Continuation Wars the river Vuoksi was a major Finnish defensive line against the Soviet advance. The Mannerheim Line and VKT-line were situated along the northern shore of its southern armlet.
At the Industrial Revolution, power generated from Vuoksi's rapids made the Vuoksi region Finland's industrial center in the late 19th century. Since the Winter War (1940), the Karelian Isthmus belongs to Russia and only 13 kilometers of the river's length remains in Finland.
The major power stations at Tainionkoski and Imatra are on the Finnish side in the center of the city of Imatra.
The river's surroundings, including the Korela Fortress (formerly: Käkisalmi), is a popular resort for Saint Petersburg's residents.
The river is famous for the great rapids, for instance at Imatra and the village of Losevo (Kiviniemi). The rapid junction of the Vuoksi and Suvanto/Lake Sukhodolskoye at Losevo is a popular place of kayak, canoe and catamaran competitions.
A project is currently being discussed in Russia to destroy the rapids at Losevo and turn the River Burnaya, Lake Sukhodolskoye and lower portions of Vuoksi into a navigable canal, which would connect Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland and allow oil tankers to bypass River Neva and the city of Saint Petersburg. [1]
Around 5,000 BP the waters of the Saimaa Lake penetrated Salpausselkä and formed the river emptying into Lake Ladoga in its northwestern corner and raising the level of the latter by 1–2 m. Lake Ladoga transgressed, flooding lowland lakes and Vuoksi, and connected with the Baltic Sea at Heinjoki, to the east of present-day Vyborg. Ladoga level gradually sank as the River Neva had originated around 3100–2400 BP, draining its waters into the gulf of Finland, but Vuoksi still had a significant direct outflow connection to the Bay of Vyborg, possibly as late as in the 16th or 17th century AD. The connection disappeared due to ongoing land uplift.[1][2][3]
In 1818 a canal, which was dug to drain spring flood waters from Lake Suvanto (now Lake Sukhodolskoye, a 40-km long narrow lake in the eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus) into Lake Ladoga, unexpectedly eroded and turned into Taipaleenjoki (now Burnaya River). Taipaleenjoki started draining Suvanto and decreased its level by 7 m. Originally waters of Lake Suvanto flowed into Vuoksi River through a waterway at Kiviniemi (now Losevo), but as a result of the change, the waterway dried out. In 1857 the channel was dug there, but the stream reversed direction, revealed rapids and rendered navigation at Kiviniemi impossible. Since 1857 Suvanto and Taipaleenjoki have constituted the southern armlet of Vuoksi River, which has decreased the level of the original northern armlet emptying into Ladoga near Kexholm (now Priozersk) by 4 m and become the main stream.